It’s not too late to claim for summer flight delays
SUMMER is now over and, sadly, there’s little you can do to repair a holiday ruined by flight delay or cancellation (eg from a strike like Ryanair’s) but many are entitled to up to £550 per person in compensation. In fact this applies even for delays as far back as 2012.
The rules apply to EU regulated flights. This is about EU regulation 261/2004 – and it’s important to mention that rule in any complaint you make as it has specific rules (it’s due to move into UK law once we leave the EU).
This means you can claim a fixed amount of compensation if you meet the criteria below, for flights going back to 2012: 1) It must be an ‘EU regulated flight’. That means the flight must have left from an EU airport (including all UK airports) or arrived at an EU airport (but in this case it must be an EU airline).
2) It must have ARRIVED 3hrs+ late. It doesn’t matter how late you leave, it’s all about how late you arrived. So if you’re on a flight that takes off four hours late but arrives two hours 55 minutes late – you’re not over the three hours needed to get compensation. Technically the time that counts is when the door opens to get off the plane.
3) It must have been the airline’s fault to claim. So things like bad weather, airport staff strikes or political problems doesn’t count. However, things that are under the airline’s control such as staffing problems, poor planning, and now even technical problems caused by not fixing regular wear and tear, all count.
Ryanair has declared it won’t pay compensation for the strike by some of its Irish pilots in July as it says it wasn’t at fault. Yet the regulator, the Civil Aviation, has said you should get it. So if it rejects you in the first instance carry on to the next stage (see below).
4) You are entitled to cash. Airlines sometimes offer vouchers, so unless they’re offering more, you can formally say you want cash.
HOW DO I PUT IN A CLAIM?
YOU can to this is at mse.me/ flightdelays. But if you want to do it manually, first, write to the airline stating the details of your delay and asking for the compensation.
If rejected, then depending on where you flew from and the airline you flew with, you can go to the relevant regulators for that country, or one of several new Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) schemes many airlines have signed up to.
HOW MUCH COMPENSATION CAN I GET?
THE amount you get is fixed solely on the flight length and delay time. So a 1,000km flight delayed by three hours is €250 (£220ish) per person, while a 4,000km flight delayed for five hours is €600 (£540ish) per person.
WHAT IF MY FLIGHT WAS CANCELLED?
THEN you’re entitled to the choice of a refund or a replacement flight – and that applies whether it is the airline’s fault or not.
■ Martin Lewis is the
Founder and Chair of Moneysavingexpert.com. Get his free Money Tips weekly email at moneysavingexpert. com/latesttip